16 - MEE PANN MUMBAIKAR

What is perennial in Mumbai?   Let me list some of them.....the beggars, the potholes, the crowds, the spit ridden public places, the shameless public urination by males, the over crowded local trains, the irregular public bus service, the yellow-black taxis which often refuse to ply you, the illegal pavement shops,,,,,all negative aspects of my city that just cannot be sidelined.

But I have found a positive aspect among one of these.  Every morning, on my way to work,  my taxi passes the Mumbai central BEST bus depot.  One gate of this enclosure is always shut and outside this gate is a haven for garbage throwers.  Piles of black garbage bags, full to the hilt, form a little hillock every morning.  And this is where I redeem my faith in 'unity and friendship'.

Two black hens, one brown hen, a golden brown rooster, two black cats, five to seven rats and about fifteen crows,  meet here and are seen sharing the spoils discarded by humans.  Since there is sufficient garbage for all of them,  they are rummaging peacefully.  In their little world,  these creatures must also be commending the BEST for allowing their hillock to flourish daily.

I'm sure that I have missed spotting the others in this group, from my vantage point through my passing cab.   Since the dumped garbage is also surrounded with dirty, stagnant water,  flies and mosquitoes also must be enjoying the space. 

When I am returning home in the evening, the pile is smaller but the friends are still seen, going about their pecking,  oblivious to the traffic snarls on the nearby road.  Usually, a human child or two are seen in the pile at this time.

Mumbai is a city where people of different religions sometimes come together through workforce proximity but seldom live up to the friendship, giving in to the compulsions of family opposition, and weak characters.  But I am grateful to these friends,  to have let me see that at least one corner of Mumbai is peaceful and friendly.

15 - TRAVEL TRAVAILS

Having to commute to work by taxi or bus has a unique set of hurdles.  The first one is that I should be able to board a bus.  The next is that the bus may be overcrowded.  If it is not, then I can be seated.  But certain factors can mar the joy. 

I may sound like a pessimist but that is the truth and has to be accepted and explained..  All may seem well,  but soon the peace within the bus is shattered by a loud voice, instructing a colleague, on the mobile,  how to tackle a fussy customer.   And another shrieky female voice, argueing aka Arnab Goswami, but on the mobile,  that the new flat should have blue tiles and not the grey ones............

All this is the noise pollution within the bus.   The loud, incessant honking of the traffic outside, creates an unbearable din on the exterior of the bus, which violates  the ear drums of all passengers within the bus too.

The last straw is when the strong stench of a garbage truck overwhelms the senses.   With the traffic moving at a snail's pace,  I am forced to watch the garbage truck preceding my bus and to breathe in the foul air.

So the senses run riot during my bus journey home.   Of course, the pot holes add the normal bumps and subsequent bruises that occur.

But recently, I can overcome these tortures.......I shut my eyes and transport myself to France and Switzerland......where my children and I had toured last month.    The smooth roads,  the unspoilt natural scenery,  the peaceful silent roads.     That was so strange.  The motorists do not honk at all in Pairs and Germany.    Traffic signals are obeyed and every vehicle respects the zebra crossings.   Oh my India,  I wish every driver would get a chance to experience driving in Europe, and emulate the traffic discipline.

Also, the road repair department should attend a workshop in France, as to how to build and maintain smooth, pothole free, clean roads.

14 - THE BUS STOP

The BEST bus routes are the safest way to travel in Mumbai.     But not the most regular mode of transport sadly.   I have waited for more than two hours for the bus to arrive and with no other choice of travel at the spot.  

If only the BEST would have a GPS tracking system at every bus stop,  then commuters could easily realize when a particular bus would be expected.  Preferably access to the monitor should be easy,  similar to the railway monitors that are available on railway stations. I have waited for a bus for almost 2 hours........sad but true.   And on such occasions there is not even an unoccupied taxi available. 

Once,  after having waited for almost an hour, in vain, I decided to walk, and then the bus passed by.
If only a GPS would have been installed,  the BEST would get more passengers too.

Sometimes, due to morchas or certain religious processions,  buses are diverted.  The unaware passengers continue to wait and suffer.  Technology should be used to reduce the trials of humans and the BEST can do so.  The advertiser on a particular bus stop should be made to sponsor the GPS monitor.  I sincerely look forward to this upgradation by the BEST.

Another change that I would like to suggest, is that the steel bus shelters are very uncomfortable to sit because the backrest bars are too close to the perpendicular angle of the seating plank.  the backrest bars need to be dismantled and welded to the second vertical curved supports.  This will enable the passengers to sit comfortably on the seating support.  Presently it is not at all easy nor restful to sit on the  seating,  as the backrest bars are too close for comfort.

Are you ready to revamp your facilities dear  BEST???    You will surely increase your revenue.

One more suggestion, is that, the bus stops should be clean.  Especially the Mumbai central bus depot.  It is your flagship stop.  I pass by every morning and evening.  At both times, there is a garbage pile around the area.  Of course, in the morning I am in a taxi, since the BEST randomly cancels  or changes major bus routes.  The 64 route was randomly cancelled.......then reinstated, after I had taken the initiative to collect more than a thousand signatures (with phone numbers)  and requested the then head, mr Khobargade,  and begged and requested certain MLA's to intervene.  And then the route was randomly diverted...........so unexpected and unexplained and below the belt.

Please dear BEST,  I request you to live up to the acronym you boast about.

1 -WHAT MADE ME SMILE.

When the heat is unbearable and it rains,  all heave a sigh of relief,  but it is short lived.  
How can I be happy when some thoughtless driver splashes the muddy puddle all over me, on my way to school?

But that is soon forgotten once I reach my school.    I am not a student.  

At school, today,  the time flew,  with interschool competition practices and reports to be completed.    

When it was time to go home,  as a rule,  I am usually tense..........waiting at the bus stop is a lesson in patience and perseverance...........

My bus is elusive and I am forced to wait at the stop,  today being no exception.      As I wait,  a middle aged man joins the previous commuters waiting at the stop.........but soon I am bugged with his behaviour.  He spits seven times,     until  I cannot just ignore his random spitting,  and I tell him to please stop the public nuisance he is creating by the dispersal of his sputum.  He retorts   'tumhare upaar giraa kya?'      I got upset and scolded him for the dirty habit.  

........and then he boarded the next  bus,  while I had to keep on waiting.

A car tried to park right across the bus stop,    my daily grouse,    and I had to request,  grumble, cajole,  threaten,   until he drove off.      After almost 40 minutes of my life had passed by at the bus stop,  my bus arrived.

 Today I had to stop on my way home,  to  buy vegetables and fruits.   Over laden with my shopping bags,   begging taxiwallahs to let me in...........I was at the end of my endurance.    'kahaa jaana hai?'     and then a shake of the head.....'gas bharraana hai'.......'shift ka time ho gaya'..........I was sooooo   angry  and sooooo  tired.      And then I saw this lady walk by me and she smiled.......I could not place her.........a student's parent???.........no,  she kept smiling and made sure that I too was looking at her and then I had to smile.........thanks to Biba.  She was not Sushmita Sen,  nor was I Aishwarya Bachchan,   because then the scenario would have not  been cordial.  But......................since that was not the case,  the outcome was different.   Her salwar outfit and mine,  were the same.......a bond was created between us........a fleeting moment that made us smile at each other...........without having met before......without any formal introduction...........I felt happy,   an unspoken bond between a stranger and me made me feel that all the problems were by-the-way........and so today my day ended with a smile from a stranger,    a smile that made me smile back and let me  forget the day's  trials.